One last mission
by MeesterholicForLife
Summary: After Phil Coulson fakes his death to put down Hydra once and for all, Melinda May finds herself talking to his grave. Little does she know he's listening from behind a tree. (If you've seen Sherlock on BBC, you'll find it more emotional than anything. Inspired by Watson's scene in the graveyard.) Philinda till the end!
1. Chapter 1

Going to his own funeral hadn't been such a great idea. Fury had told him to stay away while they buried that empty grave, but he hadn't listened. He wanted to be there.

Seeing all those agents mourning his death didn't really break him, but seeing Melinda crying for the first time in his life, hit him like a ton of bricks.

The fact that she was crying for him didn't help much.

He had watched the whole ceremony hidden behind a tree. It was now over ad everybody was saying their last goodbyes.

They all went away, one by one, kneeling down one last time before leaving. Everyone but Melinda.

Phil watched as the woman remained there, not crying anymore but still visibly devastated. He felt the urge to run to her, but somehow managed to resist.

May stepped closer to the grave and ran her fingers through the carved letters.

"You once told me you weren't as great as anyone thought you were." She started to say, her voice cracked like Coulson had never heard it before. "There were times I didn't even think you were an Agent at all, given how much personally attached you would feel to some missions, but let me tell you this: you were.." she had to stop to wipe away the tears that were streaming down her cheeks so hard they burned.

"…you were the best partner and the most caring human being that I've ever known, and no one will ever be able to replace you. After Bahrain I was..I was so unstable, so scared, so lonely. But you were there all along and I just owe you so much for that."

She kneeled down and started to cry even harder, not being able to stop.

Coulson internally cursed himself for letting that happen to her.

"You were there all along and I suppose I had taken you for granted, Phil. I had promised myself one day I would have told you, when our missions were finally over and we opened that famous bottle of Haig.

I should have told you sooner, but I hoped I had plenty of time. I love you, Phil Coulson.- "

Phil's eyes widened. Had she really said she loved him?

"-I love you like I've never loved anyone before. I love you and it's consuming me that you had to go without me being able to tell you."

Melinda May loved him. The woman he had loved his entire life had said she loved him back and he was now dead to her. Fate surely know how to prank people. It was supposed to be the happiest moment of his life, yet, it was the most painful. He wanted to go there, kiss her, tell her all about his feelings for her, but he couldn't, and so he didn't. He looked back at her. She looked so fragile, so broken..

"-Guess after all I am not that brave woman everyone keeps talking about. I should have told you sooner, I know, but you know me, I can't deal with these things. You were always able to understand what was going on in my mind with just a glance, I never practiced expressing my emotions. What am I supposed to do without you, Phil? How am I supposed to go on a mission without hearing your voice through the earpieces telling me everything's going to be fine?

Nothing's going to be fine, not without you here.

I love you, and every single part of my body will miss you every day to the end of the times."

She got up and stared at the grave while Phil, now crying, stared at her. He was trying to convince himself that it was the right thing to do, fake his death and finally being able to take down Hydra, that he had found had moles even in the highest levels of S.H.I.E.L.D

If they thought they had killed the second in command of S.H.I.E.L.D, they would eventually dropped their guard. And when they did, Phil would be there to greet them.

Yet, watching as Melinda struggled with her emotions made he revaluate the whole thing.

Melinda started to slowly walk away, but turned around one last time.

"please, there's just one more thing. One more mission, Phil, for me. We never take up personal missions, I know, but could you make an exception? Don't.. Don't be dead, okay? Just for this once. Just for me."

She stared a few more seconds, her last hopes breaking, then she walked away.

Coulson was now alone and started to cry his eyes out. "I'm not dead, Melinda." he sobbed. "I'm not dead, and I'll come back to you. I promise."

He carefully stood up to make his way out of the cemetery. As he did, he noticed Melinda turning around and quickly went back in hiding.

Melinda stopped just one step before the exit to put herself together. She breathed hard, wiped her tears, and fixed her hair. Then she heard it. Footsteps. His footsteps. She could recognize those in a million. They were far, but not that much. They were inside the graveyard. He was there. She was about to turn around, then she shook her head. It couldn't be, he was gone. As she exited the graveyard she looked back one more time and she had the impression she saw a familiar shadow disappearing behind a tree.

It was just a feeling, but it was enough. Phil Coulson was alive, and she would make it her personal mission to bring him back.

-philindaphilindaphilindaphilindaphilinda-

So, this is a one-shot but if you guys like it I left the end like that so it can be continued. What do you think? Should I make it a story or leave it like this?


	2. Chapter 2

Phil got inside the car and breathed heavily.  
"So what did you think?" asked Fury cold as usual.  
"Of the grave? Yeah, but you could have picked a better one. I doubt that one is comfortable. Maybe one with a Jacuzzi." Answered Phil sarcastically, a half smile forming on his face.  
"I was talking about Melinda, Phil. I know you didn't care about the funeral, you only wanted to see her. You never trusted me when I said she was fine. Now that you've seen her with your own eyes, can we get back to the point when we take down HYDRA?"  
"I never trusted you 'cause I knew it wasn't true. Did you see her, Nick? She's desperate. You have to tell her."  
"And let her quit S.H.I.E.L.D? She's not even on the battlefield anymore after Bahrain; Now that all those agents are HYDRA I need someone I can trust. Melinda can't know. Out of discussion."  
"Let me talk to her, she won't quit S.H.I.E.L.D"  
"I said no, Agent Coulson. In case you didn't get it, that's an order."

On her way to the base, Melinda had a single thought stuck on her mind: Phil.  
Why pretending to be dead? Why leave her behind? Why not to tell her? Why let her suffer like that?"  
In front of her eyes, as she walked down the street, she only saw the two of them. Little life bites from the Academy to their first mission, to the promise around the Haig bottle. From Bahrain to all the hugs and the glances they'd shared.  
Too many questions were filling her thoughts and too many images where obscuring her sight, and for the first time in forever, Melinda couldn't handle them.  
She had learnt how to channel her emotions, how to restrain them, how to deal with every feeling with calm through calm and meditation.  
Still, while she was there alone, in the middle of the street, Melinda May realized she had been lying all along. She had lied to everyone, but most of all, she had lied to herself.  
She stopped and looked around to make sure nobody was there. It was only then that she did something she hadn't done in too much time.

A desperate scream, filled with all those words unsaid, those thoughts dismissed, all those things she had kept for herself through the years.  
This was the real Melinda May, lively, strong, brave.  
She had convinced herself that she was dangerous, a bad person. She had forced herself into some desk job; Fighting, she said, was too painful. But she was born to fight, and only now was she getting that.  
If she wanted Phil back, she had to be ready to fight again, and finally now she was.  
"I'm coming for you, Coulson. You have my word."

She went up the stairs in a rush, her eyes sparkling like never before. Most of the Agents looked at her in disbelief, they were all recruited after Bahrain and they had never seen her true nature.  
The stories about the Cavalry were famous tough, so she used it in her favour. If she acted indimitading enough, nobody would dare to stop her.

"Agent May, you can't enter Fury's office without notice, wait for me to-"  
"Spare me, Hill."

The door to Fury's office was closed but not locked, which meant he was alone. Good.  
She didn't even try to knock.  
Fury barely looked up from the file he was reading, he only gestured her to take a seat.  
Melinda stepped closer but chose not to sit. She stood there, her weight lifted to the side, her arms crossed and her eyes glaring at him.  
"Agent May," he started. "I didn't see you after the ceremony. I know it was hard for you."  
"I saw him."  
Fury pretended he hadn't heard that. "It's always a tragedy when we lose our partners. I loved Phil like a brother."  
May raised an eyebrow. Had he really loved him he wouldn't have made him fake his death.  
"Director Fury, sir, is there anything you're not telling me?"  
Fury couldn't avoid it now.  
"It's full of things I don't tell you, 're a level seven, and there are ten. But you never complained about it, did you? Is there a problem with something?"  
Okay, so Fury wanted to play dumb. Fine. Melinda would still get what she wanted.  
"The problem is Coulson's not here. And the fault is yours." She said angry as she could.  
"You should have never sent him to New York with the Avengers. Phil did not have the super-strenght or a magic hammer. He was just an Agent, and you sent him to die."  
"May, we know the risk that comes with this job. Coulson sacrificed himself to put an end to Loki's evil plans. We all owe it to him to do our best to make his sacrifice worth it. You're one of my best agents, Agent May, if there was-"  
"I want to go back on the field." Said May all of a sudden. Only being back on the battlefield they would tell her what was going on.  
"Are you sure? Melinda, if you feel like you have to-"  
"I'm sure."  
"In that case, I have a mission for you."  
"But I want a team. And I choose the members."

PHILIDAPHILINDAPHILINDAPHILINDAPHILINDA

SOOO, HOW WAS IT? BETTER LEAVE IT AS A ONE-SHOT? SORRY FOR THE DELAY BUT UNIVERSITY GOT ME WAY TOO BUSY, SO THIS MIGHT STILL NEED SOME REVISION (ALSO, CONSIDER I'M ITALIAN AND ENGLISH IS NOT MY FIRST LANGUAGE). ANYWAY, SHOULD I KEEP WRITING THIS? LET ME KNOW, AGENTS. LOVE YOU


End file.
